Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the very best for a  ~

As a recap, I have uploaded all of my 2014 Scavenger Hunt photos with links to the posts ~

January

 

February

 

March

 

April

 

May

 June

 

July

 

August

 September

 

October

 

November

 

December

December Photo Scavenger Hunt

Christmas is over; the house guests have gone...

Time to get back to photography fun!

Early December brought frosty stormy weather, followed by torrential rain, causing flooding in the low lying areas...all that coupled with king tides made for an interesting month.  By the time Christmas rolled around, the weather had become much more pleasant, with many people out and about walking off their Christmas indulgences!  Here are my photos for December's photo hunt:

The first few photos were taken 'where the river meets the sea' during the frosty days.

1.  Where you stood:

From the shoreline, I saw this juvenile Bald Eagle perched on a post.  The tide was high, reaching much farther up the post than I'd seen before.

2.

2.  Down low:

Frosty ground covering under foot ~

3.  A view from here:

Looking at the high water levels, I noticed the swamped grasses along the shore ~

 On my previous visit, the grasses were still looking storm-weathered but more visible:

 4.  A favourite thing:

One of my favourite things is taking photos of Bald Eagles, and here is a juvenile in flight ~  Notice snowy peaks in the background.

 5.  Front door:

There is a winter Jasmine bush right outside my front door that serves as a food source and resting spot for the many small birds that venture into my yard.   I have seen hummingbirds, sparrows, wrens, towhees, chickadees and nuthatches perched on its branches, or flitting through the bush.

6.  Sweet:

I baked some lemon frosting-drizzled Ginger Crackle Cookies for my three nieces, snuggling in a few gingerbread candies amongst the baked goods.  I placed the cookies in a 9" square covered baking dish, and gave the dish/cookie combination to each of them.  They were well received :)

7.  Christmas:

A Christmas visitor ~ Santa Claws perfectly bedecked!  A wonderful surprise to see a male pileated woodpecker visiting the red oak tree in the front yard.  Notice his jaunty red moustache.

Lo and behold, Mrs. Claws visited the next day! (No red moustache).

8.  Decoration:

Whoops!  I noticed that strong winds had bowled over these Christmas garden decorations ~ an upsy-down-daisy polar bear among other things ~

9.  Tree:

No, not a Christmas tree, although mine was sparkling in its glory with 'Snowbird Star' on top :)

This is a three-parter ~ A tree catching the rays, and dripping with moss ~

One of the numerous uprooted trees floating in the ocean.  Erosion of riverbanks caused by the stormy weather, heavy rainfall and flooding took its toll.

and I liked this tree silhouette with father and son out for a walk.  I also thought this one photo covered many of the categories for this month ~  

10.  Tradition:

It has become a tradition for me to give my nieces a homemade card and goodies for Christmas ~

Here is my card for the niece who likes owls ~ not Ho, Ho, Ho, but

The owl card idea came from here.

11. Black and White:

One of the photos I took of crows high in the trees, had a black and white atmosphere about it, so I removed any traces of colour.

12. Whatever:

It's been awhile since I shared a photo of the sea lions taking a break from salmon feasting, basking on the breakwater pontoons. 

Thanks again to Greenthumb for sponsoring these monthly photo Scavenger Hunts.

Thanks you again for visiting my blog and leaving your comments throughout the year :)  Here's wishing you all a fantastic 2015, as the New Year approaches.

Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa..

This is dedicated to Dina ~ and her post, No Room at the Inn, with many thanks for her caring and compassionate ways.

(Oh, and Santa, perhaps a diaper liner for the sling ;))  

For my 'Twas poem' for Dina last year, click here  :)

Flakes, Friends and Feathers

Already December is careening along!  The list for the December photo scavenger hunt is as follows:

Where you stood
Down low
A view from here
A favourite thing
Front door
Sweet
Christmas
Decoration
Tree
Tradition
Black & white
Whatever you want

I am hoping that I won't need any of the following photos for my December compilation! Shall I take the risk? ;)

Unbeknownst to me as I was publishing my previous post on November 28 - white things were falling from the sky!  Falling flakes of snow, in fact, and when I looked outside into the night, the world had paled to white.

Fortunately the West Coast does not often find itself in this freezing mode, so although it stayed below zero for a day or two, it is now slightly warmer...like 2 degrees above zero ;)

Of course I had to check on the Neigh-baas and see how they were faring in their crispy world...

 They had found the only sunlit corner of the field and were sharing wintery whispers.

At the front door, I glimpsed the mountain through the bare trees, saw the new fallen snow, and hoped for a clear crisp day.

Winter jacket, scarf, gloves, camera...off I went to 'where the river meets the sea' :)  But first, a stop at a closer estuary...
This gull sneakily changed positions without me noticing...

...arriving at my destination, I am greeted by a sweet Song Sparrow

and a female Brewer's Blackbird

There are sea and shore birds everywhere!  No other person, just me and the birds.... :)

Busy Black Turnstones, in the company of a young Thayer's gull, scurry and splash at the water's edge.

Here's a Turnstone enjoying splashing in the sun and surf ~

and a startled pair of Trumpeter Swans here for the winter season ~

All clear...

One deciding to have a downy rest ~

  

Overhead...trumpeting

As I stood there, two flocks of Trumpeter Swans flew overhead and landed...what a spectacle.  These are huge magnificent birds...and although I see them each year, I am still awestruck.

Another flock...juveniles are grey

I have more to share from this location, but that is probably enough for this post...however, must finish off with another view from the front door, as sun set over the mountain...